The present invention relates to display systems of the type adapted to be mounted on a shopping cart to present promotional advertising and other information of interest to shoppers, and more particularly to an improved shopping cart display device having a specially configured base panel and interlocking cover frame that together mount securely to virtually all styles of shopping carts and further facilitate a change in the displayed information without disturbing the mounted device.
Advertising literature and other promotional materials have long been displayed on the structural parts of a shopping cart to permit merchants to advertise or promote various items to their customers. Such advertising displays have been conventionally used and mounted on the handle and various basket sidewalls of the shopping cart on both outer and inner sides thereof to provide maximum exposure to customers of the items being promoted. These advertising displays commonly comprise a plate-like base member of a substantially rectangular configuration and a separate ring-like cover member of the same rectangular configuration which releasably engages and overlies the base member to hold a disposable sheet-like advertisement therebetween. The advertisement is generally printed on a card or sheet of paperboard that is initially positioned within the display and later removed and discarded when necessary.
Engagement of the display elements, particularly the cover and base members, and their mounting attachment to the shopping cart have been effected using a variety of fastener means. One common group of known display units employs a hinged connection between the base and cover members while another, to avoid problems associated with hinge failure, employs totally separate base and cover members and provides for their engagement using releasable latch structures that cooperate between the members along their respective rims. While this latter group of hinge less display units has been generally satisfactory in the visual presentation of its advertisement on the shopping cart, it has been found somewhat disadvantageous in the process of changing the advertisement, as is required from time to time, particularly where total removal of the cover member is required. Such action requires the attendant to manipulate both the cover member and the advertisement while at the same time positioning them relative to the shopping cart. While such completely separable, non-hinged display units are generally favored over those with hinged connections of the base and cover members, they are more difficult to manipulate with respect to insertion and removal of advertisements. Furthermore, despite the variety of fastener means used in the past to secure these display units, particularly the base member thereof, to the shopping cart structure, there has been no adequate combination of fastener means and base member structure that allows universal mounting of the display to virtually any type of shopping cart structure.
Accordingly, it is a general purpose and object of the present invention to provide an improved device for displaying advertisements or like promotional material upon shopping carts that is easier to mount and manipulate on the shopping carts than those display units heretofore developed.
A more particular object of the present invention is to provide an improved shopping cart display device that can be securely mounted in a proper attitude upon virtually any shopping cart structure and be easily removed therefrom without damage.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a display device for mounting upon a shopping cart that allows for easy installation and removal of advertisements, when needed, without disturbing the mounted position of the device.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a shopping cart display device that presents a more attractive picture-like image of advertising copy and associated artwork displayed therein for greater impression upon the shopping customer.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a reusable display device for shopping carts that is reasonably inexpensive to manufacture, easy to assemble and reliable in its operation.
Briefly, these and other objects of the present invention are accomplished by an improved display device for holding an advertisement or the like in a card or sheet-like form upon a shopping cart. The display device comprises a base panel having a substantially rectangular body and a plurality of longitudinal slots formed therethrough, the slots extending across the body of the base panel in separate radial and tangential directions to provide multiple areas of access to the shopping cart wall for balanced mounting of the device. Each of the slots is further provided with a support post extending across the width of the slot intermediate of the ends thereof to provide support for the attachment to the shopping cart wall by means of conventional cable ties. The display device further comprises a cover frame formed having a substantially rectangular outer configuration similar to that of the base panel and further formed having a rectangular aperture through the thickness of the frame thereby providing a rim section with a viewing window through the frame. The base panel and cover frame are assembled and releasably engaged by means of a series of clip members formed on the reverse side of the rim section that align with and engage a series of squared openings formed around the periphery of the base panel. Notched corners formed on the lower corners of the rim section of the cover frame allow the advertisement card or sheet to be inserted and removed without disassembling or detaching the device from the shopping cart.
For a better understanding of these and other aspects of the present invention, reference should be made to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which like reference numerals and characters designate like parts throughout the figures thereof.